PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION, HUSBANDRY PRACTICES, AND DEFINING BREEDING OBJECTIVE TRAITS OF INDIGENOUS SHEEP POPULATIONS IN MESKAN AND SODDO DISTRICTS, EAST GURAGE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study was conducted in the Meskan and Soddo districts of the East Gurage Zone of the Central Ethiopia Regional State with the objectives of identifying and generating comprehensive information on husbandry practices, breeding objectives, selection criteria, and phenotypic characterization of indigenous sheep populations under the smallholder management system. A total of 176 households were selected randomly from Meskan and Soddo districts (3 rural kebeles from each district), and 270 mature sheep (30 males and 240 females) were taken for morphometric data. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed to gather survey data focused on husbandry practices, breeding objectives, selection criteria, and breeding performance of indigenous sheep. Following the survey study, own flock animal ranking and group-animal ranking experiments were carried out, 15 breeding ewes and 15 breeding rams from each district were randomly selected and used for the group animal ranking experiment. The survey data were analysed using SPSS version 26, while indices were computed for the ranked data. The own flock and group ranking experiment data were analysed using SAS version 9.4. Based on the investigated results, the top two objectives of keeping sheep were income generation and ceremonies in the study area. The most prevalent feed source for sheep during the dry season was grazing aftermath (57%), while in the wet season, natural pasture (65.91%) was common in the study area. The major source of water during the dry season was pipe water (57.39%), whereas in the wet season, rivers (31.82%) were mostly used in the study area. The larger portion of the respondents in both districts practiced castration. The majority of sheep keepers (89.20%) in the study area practiced uncontrolled mating due to a lack of awareness (67.95%). The majority of the respondents (57.95%) do not have their own breeding ram; however, they use rams from communal grazing lands. The average weaning age of indigenous sheep lambs in the study area was 3.56 months. The proportion of breeding males to breeding females was 1:3.39. The mean age of male sheep at sexual maturity and female sheep at first service in the study area was 7.74 and 8.07 months, respectively. The mean values of age at first lambing, lambing interval, number of lamb crops per ewe life time, and reproductive lifespan of ewe were 13.75 months, 7.96 months, 11.99 lambs, and 8.23 years, respectively. The major selection criteria of the farmers for breeding rams was body size (index = 0.28), while twining ability for breeding ewes with an index value of 0.31. The most important health affecting problem for sheep was diarrhea (index = 0.30). The main constraint that hindered sheep productivity in the study area was disease incidence, with index values of 0.27. It was found that in the own-flock ranking experiment, sheep keepers focused on the animal's reproductive performance and mothering ability, while in the group-animal ranking experiment, they selected the animals based on observed physical appearances like coat colour and body size. Heart girth was the single best predictor of body weight (P < 0.001) in the study area. In general, frequent twinning, shorter lambing intervals, and higher adult body weight are the most desirable traits, which may also be used as selection criteria. Considering the producer's objective traits in the current study would help in designing sheep productive performance improvements in the study area.